**I have not done a season log before, but I've done two seasons in MLBPP 2008 - one as my Charlotte Chargers, another as the Washington Nationals - the Nats trading away everyone, and training up all youngsters to get a winning record. The MOST challenging game, in either MLBPP, I've found, is taking a group of computer-generated scrubs, and trying to compete with them. On hard settings, it's near impossible - which is why I will supplement the team with a few key real-life players. Read on for more info!

It was just after the Red Sox had won the 2007 World Series, and Bud Selig was facing a lot of problems. After complaints about the posting process and international free agent signings, MLB had decided to institute a single, world-wide draft, preventing teams from signing Japanese or Latin-American players outside the draft. This was great, for parity - no more Dice-Ks, Hideki Matsuis, and Ichiros defining a team. But it was bad for business - there was a lot of talent to manage and squeeze in somewhere.

Meanwhile, the growing glut of quad-A, or AAAA-type players, was causing issues in the player's union. Lots of guys were doing well in the minors, but not being given a shot, due to veterans in the big league, or sometimes just pure payroll committments. Other guys would be kept in the minors until they were ineligible for super-2 or arbitration, all in ploys by the teams to save money. It was costing guys their career, their livelihood.

To compound things further, lots of big-name players were questionable to find work the next year. Roger Clemens was still successful, but was questionable to come back. No teams were offering Barry Bonds a contract - despite his enormous power and plate discipline. Other favorites like Bernie Williams had been out of baseball for a year, and former aces like Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia had no contracts.

One final issue was complaints about the NL - fighting among 16 teams for 4 playoff spots, which the AL East had a smaller field of 14 teams. Fans of NL Central teams were much less likely to see playoff berths, when there were 5 other division rivals. Meanwhile an AL West team could just rise above 3 others, including the lowly Athletics, and be in the post-season.

To solve all these issues, Selig hatched a plan to create two new teams. Both AL teams, to solve the issue of AL/NL balance.

In the AL East division, the most talented by far, MLB would create and sponsor a new team based out of Charlotte, NC. The Charlotte Chargers, as they would be known, would be the cream of the crop - solid quad-A types plucked in a draft, the most promising international free agents, and a few experienced guys from Latin American leagues to fill out the roster. A few college stars, like James Calloway and Keith Colamarino, headlined the picks. With no service time, the team would be set for at least 6 years - enough time for new draftees to come on board and make their mark. Meanwhile, the South - that whole untapped region from southern Virginia through the Carolinas and into Tennessee/Kentucky - would be drawn into baseball. The Braves would continue to dominate their area, but now kids from all over NC would have a major-league squad to visit.

In the AL West division, to end the last 4-team grouping, the Honolulu Heroes would be added. This team would encompass a second grouping of talent - some decent prospects from the draft, second-tier International free agents, etc. By itself, doomed to fail. But, the main point of this team was to entice big-name talent back onto the field. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Bernie Williams, Pokey Reese - all were given invites with enormous incentives to come out to Honolulu, see Rainbow Beach Stadium, and contemplate the idea of their families spending a summer there. MLB is also courting other free agent starters, like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Bruce Chen, and other free agent hitters like David Newhan. Even lefty Casey Fossum got an invite, to shore up the bullpen.

As of now, it's looking like a win-win for everyone involved - big-name players draw a following in Hawaii, both among the locals, but more importantly, that summer vacation crowd. And guys that might not get an offer elsewhere, or might want to retire, get paid to enjoy the beach and tropics of Hawaii, and get another season to pad their stats. Offers begin going out, and MLB and the agents start doing their dances.

Next Post: in-depth look at the Heroes' default roster.

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maccrash21 wrote:

a lot of classical music is completely sterile cut-and-pasted Sweet Lines with 0 emotional heft.

"Another year older, another year better at Power Pros!" -Me"Best way to get laid: Tell her you're the community manager of a baseball video game forum." -SkittleMonster"The Chronicles of Dish's Love Life. I'd read it." -BrewersFuzz"Find a way to be alone in a baseball stadium at sunrise, when the only sound you hear are about nine birds that got lost, and found themselves in a stadium, and they’re chirping across the grandstand trying to figure out where the *(censored)* they ended up." -Dan Besbris

*These pictures paint the problem with a default roster of scrubs. Some come out with decent abilities - one B stamina, a C arm, even a B power. But the main problems are:

1) No fielders have multiple positions. None! No utility guy means huge roster constraints. 2) talent stack - three 3Bs? All decent hitters. Play one, bench one...then I'm stuck. 3) No starting pitchers with A stamina - just ONE with B? wow. I can survive, having so many C's, but it makes no sense.4) E/F disease. By default, everyone has this. For some things, training will help. For power and control, its the kiss of death. 5) Speed! NO ONE has a speed over E? Not ONE base-stealing threat, or pinch-runner? This is why I need to add custom guys.

Anyway, looks like this team may be a bit longer in the making than I'd hope. Might have to add a few succes mode guys in - if you have any realistic, low-stat guys (especially OF'ers) that you think would be perfect additions, let me know now!

Pitching!

Default Heroes Roster, prior to any FA signings:

SP #1: Rodrigo Osorio. This Venezuelan righty is the clear frontrunner as ace, with a fastball hitting 94, four pitches and the stamina to go deep into a game. The lack of a changeup made most major league squads shy away from signing Osorio, who has showed his stuff in the Venezuelan leagues for some time.

SP #2: Han Song is a Korean-born lefty. The crafty forkballer wished to move to the US, and the short hop to Hawaii for his family was perfect. Song prings 94 mph heat, and the standard 3-pitch arsenal, with the curveball being the best pitch. If his deceptive delivery keeps batters guessing wrong, Song could be a viable #2 or 3.

SP #3: Roberto Delucchi is an italian lefty who played for Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. His 90mph top speed is less than stellar, but his ability to spot the sinker can get him out of tight spots. Delucchi enters the season as a contender for a starting spot.

SP #4: Scott Traber was selected from the independent leagues after going undrafted in 2006. He tops out at 90mph, and his pitch repertoire is less than stellar, making him the obvious weak spot in the rotation.

SP #5: Doug McRae grew up in Minnesota idolizing the Neikro brothers. He learned the knuckleball as a youngster, and once in college, he brought it back, mainly to offset his lack of impressive velocity. Soon he was terrorizing the league, and he is now a formidable option for the Heroes' rotation.

Swing man: Lefty Jorn Obradovic, an extreme rarity in being a Serbian professional baseball player, had eluded scouts for years. MLB hopes that Obradovic's selection and spot on the Heroes' roster will give the sport more exposure in his hom country. Jorn has decent stamina and control, and his forkball/slider combination will be serving well in the middle innings or spot starts.

RP: Fred Cunnane, brother of the Charlotte Chargers' Rick Cunnane, was selected out of college in Georgia to join the Heroes' roster. Though still developing, he has shown a decent slider and plus curve to complement his 92mph fastball. Debatably the weakest link in the bullpen, Cunnane is out to prove he belongs.

RP: Righty Pete Swanson has the stamina to take a few innings, and his sidearm delivery can be deceptive in short spurts. He has three pitches, all tight moving breaks, to complement his 88mph fastball.

RP: Gustavo Ziegler is of Jamaican/German descent. Plucked from a Jamaican amateur league, the submarine-style tosser has impressed scouts with his control of his forkball and curve. His abnormal delivery may make up for his 88mph top speed - look for him to be a strong weapon this season.

Setup: Leon Zhumba is a South-African baseball prodigy. A switch-hitter, he was scouted by MLB as a closer, and has the stuff to back it up. Zhumba could assume closing duties, or collect saves when Laya is unavailable.

CL: Fernando Laya gets closing duties by default on the Heroes roster. Laya's 92mph heat and deep curveball are sufficient to confuse most opponents he faced in the Cuban league. Laya defected after being promised a closing spot on the new team - he has already moved to Hawaii with his family.

Next post: hitters/fielders!!

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maccrash21 wrote:

a lot of classical music is completely sterile cut-and-pasted Sweet Lines with 0 emotional heft.

3 decent 3Bs isn't all that bad. That means you have trade bait you can use to fix one of your holes. Get a good pitcher or someone with speed. Also, if you have extra money, buy some training items, especially for stamina.

"Another year older, another year better at Power Pros!" -Me"Best way to get laid: Tell her you're the community manager of a baseball video game forum." -SkittleMonster"The Chronicles of Dish's Love Life. I'd read it." -BrewersFuzz"Find a way to be alone in a baseball stadium at sunrise, when the only sound you hear are about nine birds that got lost, and found themselves in a stadium, and they’re chirping across the grandstand trying to figure out where the *(censored)* they ended up." -Dan Besbris

Twitter: @robtoml_statman

Last edited by dishnet34 on Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I started this team a while back (hence the stats for a few guys), but added a few relatively low-powered guys from the Wiki - a SS named Vargas, and a 3B named C. Baker - but they were just too good. Success guys own on a team like this. So any guys I add to the actual project have to be very low-powered - even my Pokey Reese just blows these guys away (even though I still may sign him from FA).

I'm not sure how the agents thing works - you guys take a player and determine his demands at the end of each season? Maybe, but it's amost useless - I'll be doing every game myself, so it will go slow. I also won't start until about 8-10 more guys are done via Success Mode. Carlos Gonzales, Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, and Gio Gonzalez on the A's, then some other guys like Colby Rasmus, Darnell McDonald, Bruce Chen and Bartolo Colon. Maybe Casey Fossum and a success mode OF'er to spice things up.

Longball is right, I can't trade any of these guys for anything worthwhile. Most likely I'll scrap third-string 3B's like Murillo and go the free agent route.

This will progress VERY slowly - I'll draw out catchers tomorrow, then infielders. Then a few weeks of negotiating with Clemens/Bonds/Williams/Newhan to come out and join the Heroes. Finally the lineup should be set and I can begin playing, maybe June 20th? Who knows.

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maccrash21 wrote:

a lot of classical music is completely sterile cut-and-pasted Sweet Lines with 0 emotional heft.

Thanks. That's a decent guy - but I have plenty like that - all Es, Fs when it comes to fielding, but decent hitters.

I already will have David Newhan, Bernie Williams, and Barry Bonds in my OF. So I'm really looking for a speed demon at this point. Or even a solid all-around fielder.

So, is your outfield pretty well set now? I read you got a shortstop, but didn't seem too happy with him, I have one I never got the chance to upload but I'll try and find batteries for the camera if someone would use him.

Haha, thanks man. I am looking for two characters at this point, success variety. Your guy is good, but too many blue abilities for what I'm going for.

Guy #1: Owen Burke. 2B/3B/LF, not great at any. Decent speed (D/C), maybe good bunt, good inf. hitter, not many other abilities. Contact E or lower, power E or lower, defense all Ds or lower. Appearance: red or blond facial hair all around, eye black, some hair poking out from under cap.

Guy #2: Deigo Salazar. utility OF. CF/RF. Speed of 11 or 12. good inf hitter. defense/arm in the Cs, but terrible hitter - F/G contact, E power. Not many blue abilities. Some guy I can groom to replace guys like Bonds/Williams/Newhan as they retire, or to give them a day off, or pinch run/def replacement. Appearance: one of the mid-dark skin tones, with facial hair (goatee, etc). Blue glove.

Guy #3: Luke Sheridan. I dunno who or what yet. Intense eyes.

Thanks everyone for following - this will be EXTREMELY slow, but I will try to make it worth while.

_________________

maccrash21 wrote:

a lot of classical music is completely sterile cut-and-pasted Sweet Lines with 0 emotional heft.

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